SLIPPERY ROCK — Brendan Hathaway sought out each senior and threw his arms around him.

Some were sobbing while others were merely somber as the Slippery Rock High football coach approached to give thanks for a season few outside of the borough expected.

But the Cinderella story didn't have a happy ending for the Rockets as Meadville's three-headed rushing monster of Artrel Foster, Terence Goodrum and Fred Epps gained 510 yards on the ground in a 43-7 win over Slippery Rock in the first round of the District 10 Class AAA playoffs at Slippery Rock University Friday night.

“Any time you invest that much into something, it hurts to lose,” Hathaway said. “It just goes to show you how much work they put in. This meant something to these seniors this year and it's very emotional.

“They are close with each other,” Hathaway added. “I teach these guys in the classroom. I'm with these guys more than I'm with my family during football season. Hey, I love them. I love them.”

The Rockets, coming off an 0-10 campaign last year, started off their first playoff game since 2008 with an eight-play, 79-yard drive that culminated with a 7-yard touchdown run by junior quarterback Ryan Currie.

That was one of the few highlights for Slippery Rock.

The Rockets (7-4) were haunted by fumbles, putting the ball on the SRU turf seven times and losing two of them.

Both lost fumbles set up Meadville scores.

“We ran the ball, we just made some mistakes,” Hathaway said. “Meadville — there's a reason why they have three 1,000-yard rushers and if you give up the big plays and get down on them early, they'll make you pay.”

Meadville answered the Slippery Rock scoring drive with a six-play, 60-yard march capped by an 11-yard TD run by Epps.

That was the only long drive of the day by the Bulldogs as they didn't need many plays to score after that.

Meadville scored three times on the first play of a possession including on back-to-back offensive plays to take a 21-7 lead at the half.

After a Slippery Rock fumble, Foster rumbled 70 yards for a score.

Then, after the Rockets pinned Meadville on its own 9, Epps burst through the middle untouched and outran everyone to the end zone for a 91-yard score.

“Meadville, they hit the line running full speed and if you don't get a hand on them, you don't get a shoulder on them, they're gone,” Hathaway said.

Epps finished with 259 yards on 22 carries and scored four touchdowns. Foster added 147 yards on 10 carries and Goodrum 98 yards on 17 attempts.

Epps, a bruising back nicknamed “the diesel” had 151 yards by halftime.

“He's a beast,” said Meadville coach Ken Achenbach. “He runs hard. We found him a third of the way through our season a year ago and since then he's been putting up big numbers.”

For the third straight week, the Bulldogs didn't attempt a pass.

They didn't need to with a ground game as dominant as it was Friday night.

Meadville was determined to avenge a loss to Slippery Rock earlier this season that sent it reeling and threatened to doom its season.

“A lot has happened since then,” Achenbach said. “We went through some dark times after that loss. We were determined to come into this game and show what we are really all about.”

Mission accomplished.

Meadville will play Cathedral Prep next week.

Slippery Rock will enter the offseason with the groundwork laid for the future.

“These seniors mean so much to me and the other coaches because they are going to be successful in life,” Hathaway said. “We're going to look back at this and say they were the ones who turned this program around.”

Meadville 43, Slippery Rock 7Meadville 14 7 13 9 — 43Slippery Rock 7 0 0 0 — 7M SR16 First Downs 952-510 Rushes-Yards 41-1920 Passing Yards 200-0-0 Passes (Comp.-Att.-Int.) 3-6-0510 Total Yards 2122-0 Fumbles-Lost 7-25-35 Penalties-Yards 2-20

First QuarterSR — Ryan Currie 7 run (Mike Stutz kick), 7:00M — Fred Epps 11 run (Caleb Stein kick), 4:07M — Artrel Foster 70 run (Stein kick), :44

Second QuarterM — Epps 91 run (Stein kick), 7:47

Third QuarterM — Epps 4 run (Stein kick), 8:54M — Foster 45 run (kick failed), 3:37

Fourth QuarterM — Epps 42 run (Stein kick), 8:29M — Safety, SR fumble through back of end zone, :44

Individual StatisticsPassing: Meadville, none. Slippery Rock, Ryan Currie 3-6-20-0.

Rushing: Meadville, Fred Epps 22-259, Artrel Foster 10-147, Terence Goodrum 17-98, Tyler Minnis 2-12, Team 1-(-6). Slippery Rock, Ryan Currie 17-84, Chris Thomas 1-39, Jeff Croll 9-31, Sean White 6-26, Frank Conlon 3-16, Ben Gaul 5-(-4).

Receiving: Meadville, none. Slippery Rock, Sam Furrh 1-9, Ben Gaul 1-9, Jeff Croll 1-2.